Writers at dinner . . . and at the Boston Book Festival

“The Emperor’s Children” novelist Claire Messud
and her husband, literary critic James Wood
, dined at UpStairs on the Square on Monday night with filmmaker Ira Sachs
. Sachs presented his new film, “Keep the Lights On,” at the Brattle Theatre that evening. In other literary news, the Boston Book Festival released full schedule of events on Tuesday. The book festival — which will be held Oct. 27 — includes a session about short stories with Jennifer Haigh
, Edith Pearlman
, and Junot Diaz
, who just received a “genius grant” from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; “The Daily Show” co-creator Lizz Winstead
talking about satire; and Adam Gopnik talking about Paris and New York. (And Boston, we hope.)